Casper Confidential

Vanities

Casper Van Dien casts his spell on Hollywood

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As Johnny Rico in the surprise hit Starship Troopers, Casper Van Dien battled his way past alien insects and into the Hollywood limelight. This month, as Van Dien prepares to take to the trees in the upcoming Tarzan and the Lost City, GEORGE WAYNE catches up with the brash heartthrob and attempts to discover the man behind the loincloth. best shape I’d ever been in. When I first came out here, I was always thinking, There are jocks in the gym, and then there are serious actors, and I was a serious actor. But then when I started working out, I retained more when I read. G.W. Well, you have the gorgeous everything and I hate you! And I pray that you have a stub for a willy!

George Wayne: I naturally assume that in your next film, Tarzan and the Lost City, we get to see you in a loincloth a lot. And that, to G. W, is very exciting news.

Casper Van Dien: Yeah, I ran around in the jungle for four months in South Africa with nothing but a loincloth on.

G.W.Can I assume Casper has a rather huge basket? What are you trying to tell me?

C.V.D. I was just making a joke. But you saw me naked in Starship Troopers. In the shower scene.

G.W.What I loved the most in Starship Troopers was the torture scene. What was that like?

C.V.D. Being whipped by a big black man? It’s an experience.

G.W.It certainly was a risk for Paul Verhoeven to cast you in this big Hollywood action movie—after all, you were nobody.

C.V.D. I like to use the word “unknown” as opposed to “nobody, like to be politically correct... I just slept with him.

G.W.O.K., I believe that. After seeing your acting ability, I wouldn’t disagree.

C.V.D. Oh, thanks a lot. Wow, brutal!

G.W.Casper, how many times have you had to say, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”?

C.V.D. Never.

G.W.You have the eyes, the hair, the square jaw, amazing pecs, arms, and legs. I hate you!

C.V.D.[Laughs.] I’ve been working out really hard for that body. For Starship Troopers, I got myself in the

C.V.D.[Laughs. Long pause.] Oh, man! I haven’t had any complaints in that department.

G.W.Can you spell the word “sommelier” for me, Casper?

C.V.D. No, I can’t. Nor would I even try.

G.W.Is it true that every firstborn male in your family takes the name Casper?

C.V.D. Yeah. All the men in my family have been named Casper, for as far back as we’ve recorded, about nine generations.

G.W.And you grew up in

New Jersey on Van Dien Avenue?

C.V.D. Yes, I did.

G.W.And since doing Tarzan you’ve gone on to live in Tarzana, California.

C.V.D. And Starship Troopers was shot in Casper, Wyoming.

G.W.Is this mere coincidence, or do we see personality patterns here?

C.V.D. Well, my dad is the one who did the Van Dien Avenue thing, which was named after our great-great-grandfather. I chose to live in Tarzana because it’s close to my ex-wife. Casper, Wyoming, was coincidence. And Van Dien [pronounced Van Dean] got to play James Dean in a movie.

G.W.But as is typical, you become a star and you divorce the plain-Jane wife.

C.V.D. No, and she’s never been plain-Jane. Unfortunately, we were going through our divorce long before all this happened. Then we slept to-

gether again, and she got pregnant again. And then we tried to make it work again. But we cannot make it work.

G.W.So now we get the facts. But you have admitted to being a fool for love.

C.V.D. I make many mistakes for love. I always try to impress the woman. I’ve known this woman for six years, and we’ve tried. I married her because she is a beautiful, incredible, sexy, intelligent woman.

G.W.All right, Casper. Thanks. You can go.